SUEZ has developed a new biogas and biomethane recovery solution, in collaboration with the start-up WAGA ENERGY and with the technical and financial support of ADEME. This innovation improves the energy efficiency of non-hazardous waste storage facilities, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to circular economy. The biomethane is injected into the local natural gas distribution network operated by GRDF, supporting the region’s ecological transition.

This new technology, officially launched in Saint-Maximin (Oise, France) today, will optimise the waste’s energy potential and enable SUEZ to become France’s leading producer of biomethane and the operator managing the largest number of biomethane plants in France.

Thanks to increasingly efficient technologies, we are able to enhance energy efficiency and produce renewable energy that is then used locally within our regions. At our Saint-Maximin plant in Oise, we have been recovering the waste we store into electricity for a long time. From today, we will also recover it into enough biomethane to meet the annual gas requirements of the equivalent of 2,000 local households. A perfect example that we would like to deploy widely for our clients.

Recovery of biogas from waste storage facilities is a key factor in managing waste and preserving resources. In France, currently only 60% of the biogas produced in these facilities is recovered as electricity or heat. The technology developed by WAGA ENERGY and deployed at the Saint-Maximin plant meet this challenge by recovering biogas even more efficiently than the usual process. From June 2017, 20 GWh of biomethane will be injected into the network every year, equivalent to the gas requirement of 3,000 households.

Recovery of biogas from waste storage facilities is a key factor in managing waste and preserving resources. In France, currently only 60% of the biogas produced in these facilities is recovered as electricity or heat. The technology developed by WAGA ENERGY and deployed at the Saint-Maximin plant meet this challenge by recovering biogas even more efficiently than the usual process. From June 2017, 20 GWh of biomethane will be injected into the network every year, equivalent to the gas requirement of 3,000 households.

After ten years in development, the WAGABOX®, supported by the “Investissements d’Avenir” (investment for the future) programme, is the first industrial unit capable of extracting biomethane from the mixture of gases produced by decomposing waste which is full of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen and impurities. Following a purification step, the biogas converted into biomethane, which is almost identical to natural gas, can be injected into the GRDF distribution network.

Mathieu Lefebvre, CEO of WAGA ENERGY, said, “By applying the WAGABOX disruptive technology, SUEZ will be able to recover 90% of the biogas produced from waste as 98% pure biomethane, which will be injected directly into the natural gas distribution network. The launch of the WAGABOX, only twelve months after the contract was signed, proves our capacity to manage complex industrial projects for operators of non-hazardous waste storage facilities within short-time frames.”

The innovative and ambitious project of Saint-Maximin prompted ADEME, France’s Environment and Energy Management Agency, to provide technical support and €438,920 in funding from its special heat fund.

The launch of this facility with WAGA ENERGY helps meet targets laid out in the French law on energy transition for green growth and is in line with SUEZ’s strategy to increase biogas production by 30% to 50% within the next five years.

In France, SUEZ recovers almost 5 million tonnes of waste as 100% renewable energy, to meet the heat requirements of 430,000 inhabitants and the electricity consumption of 580,000 inhabitants. In Europe, SUEZ will recover this year more than 9 million tonnes of waste in renewable energy, to meet the heat requirements, will sell 7 TWh of energy which is the equivalent of the annual consumption of a city with 2 million inhabitants, such as Vienna or Hamburg, thus avoiding more than 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.